Inmate: Rachiel Moore (Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Florida where Moore’s ex-stepdad killed the father of her child at her behest (Google Maps).
A 27-year-old mother in Florida will spend the remainder of her days behind bars for having her former stepdad kill the father of her 4-year-old daughter — in front of the child — just hours after a judge awarded him split custody.
Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge Clifton Drake on Thursday ordered Rachiel Moore to serve life without parole in a state correctional facility for the 2023 slaying of 24-year-old Colby Vinson, authorities announced. Drake handed down the sentence after a jury found Moore guilty on one count of first-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence.
Moore’s ex-stepfather, 55-year-old Jason Curtis, in May 2024 was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Vinson. He was similarly sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The investigation revealed that Moore had been communicating with Curtis “all week” before Vinson’s murder “in reference to Curtis driving down from Alabama to kill Colby Vinson,” prosecutors said in a news release.
“Moore paid Curtis gas money to make the trip and provided all of Colby’s personal information for Jason Curtis to identify, locate, and murder Colby Vinson,” the release states.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office on the night of March 19, 2023, responded to a reported shooting at an apartment complex located in the 7700 block of Navarre Parkway in Navarre, Florida, which is about 170 miles west of Tallahassee.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found Vinson lying on his back on the concrete just outside of his front door. He appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound to the face and was pronounced dead on the scene. Authorities said that his 4-year-old daughter was beside the body when they first located Vinson’s body. She was not harmed.
Investigators first made contact with a woman identified as Moore’s godmother. She explained that Moore was the mother of Vinson’s child and the two had been in an acrimonious custody battle that recently resulted in Vinson being granted split custody of the child. In fact, Moore’s godmother told detectives that the day he was killed was the first time “in approximately one year that Vinson was able to see [his daughter] and have her sleep at his residence,” deputies wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
Detectives with the Major Crimes Unit interviewed Moore, who allegedly told them that after losing the custody dispute with Vinson, she had an ominous conversation with Curtis, whom she referred to as “Booger.”
Moore allegedly said that when she told Curtis about the outcome of the court hearing, “he sent her pictures of knives/guns through Facebook Messenger,” according to the affidavit.
“Rachel [Moore] thanked [Curtis] for making her feel better, and later would delete her Facebook Messenger app because it looked bad having this conversation with him,” the document states. “Last night (3/19/2023) [Curtis] called [Moore] at approximately 10 p.m. and stated she did not have to worry about it, everything was fine, he had to go, and he had to put his ‘a—’ in the wind.”
Moore said that when she spoke to Curtis he sounded “excited,” and she promised that she “would pay him $50 in gas.” She allegedly told police that she knew the situation “looks bad for her,” but said she did not think Curtis would actually harm Vinson.
Investigators tracked Curtis’ vehicle and located him in Alabama where he was arrested. Sheriff Johnson said that when investigators searched the vehicle, officers located what they believe to be the murder weapon as well as a piece of paper with Vinson’s physical description and addresses for his home and work.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
